How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard

Year Course. Nine months of happiness, joy, independence, difficulties, adventures, and memories. As I am writing this blog post at home as a Year Course alum, I feel as if I have woken up from a dream. How is it possible that all of these memories that I have in my head actually happened? I lived in three incredible cities, went to bars and clubs in Tel Aviv, went on breathtaking hikes, made a difference through my volunteering AND to top it all off, I got a year's worth of college credit! I am so blessed to have been a part of this program and a part of Section 3 (the best section). When I think about last year and how I was having trouble deciding between Year Course and college, I can't believe I ever had any doubts. Year Course was the best decision I could have made. College will always be there for me and I am going this fall. I have become so independent and so happy and I owe it all to my amazing experiences in Israel. Year Course, Thanks for everything, I am going to miss you <3

 

Yearcourse Closing Ceremonies!

As I was sitting in my seat at the Begin Center in Jerusalem, I was thinking about nine months ago when I was sitting in the Beit Ar-El lawn for Opening Ceremonies. I swear, I can remember everything about that night. How nervous I was, all my hopes and fears for the upcoming year. And just like that, it's over. After all of Year Course spent two days together as a treat for the end of Year Course, it was time to say goodbye. The ceremony was very well done with many speeches from year coursers and it was even led by a few of our own. We watched videos and reminisced. It really was a well done ceremony. All of our teachers came and it was great to see everyone! A few friends and I got extremely close to a staff member and she told us that we were the higlight of her Aliyah experience! As year course was claimed "over", all of the crying began and counselors literally had to pull people apart in order to get them on the buses to go to the airport. After a crazy few days, all of year course was at the airport trying to check in and when we finally did, we were on our way home.

Year Course Final Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuAcOC9b6cA

 

 

 



Goodbye Bat Yam... :(

Wow! Bat Yam has been one crazy ride. From amazing volunteering, to being a 10 min walk to the beach, to being just a bus ride into Tel Aviv, it is safe to say that I had an amazing three months! Something that I also loved about this semester was location. Every weekend, my friends and I hopped on a train and explored something new even though sometimes we felt that there was so much left to do and not enough time to do it! From camping in Sde Boker to camping at the Kineret, I saw a lot of beautiful sights this semester. I also went to a crazy music festival in the forest which will be an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I basically lived on the beach because there is nothing like Tel Aviv beaches. I spent countless Friday mornings at the Tel Aviv shuk enjoying the amazing atmosphere. Bat Yam has been so incredibly fun with so much to do. Oh, and I can never forget the scouts that lived with us! These are eleven amazing kids who inspired us everyday. They are such hard workers and genuinely great people. I now have eleven new homes whenever I come and visit :)
Looking back, I have no regrets on the Bat Yam semester. I really feel as if I gave it my all and explored so many new things. It was a perfect way to end a perfect year and I miss it already.

Goodbye Save a Child's Heart and Fat Meir Soup Kitchen

As I mentioned before, my volunteering in Bat Yam was at two places. Twice a week, I was volunteering with kids from all over the world who were in Israel to get heart surgery and once a week, I was making sandwiches for the lower class of Bat Yam. Pretty cool right? :)
My last day at Fat Meir was pretty emotional. Even though I was there only once a week, Meir really took a liking to me and was sad to see me go. He even took down my number and email incase he ever comes to LA!
Save a Child's Heart was really where the magic happened. I am absolutely honored to have had the chance to work here. I have made friends of all ages from countries like Burundi, Ethiopia, Romania, Zanzibar, Tanzania and many more. I have learned to communicate without using words and I have fallen in love with these kids. Every time a kid went into surgery, my heart would ache until I knew they were ok. Every time a kid went home, I had to put my selfish needs aside and be happy that they would be going home and seeing their families as healthy kids.  Save a Child's Heart changed my life. I know it sounds cliche but it really is true. I learned so much from these kids and gained so much from this experience. Thanks for everything SACH!

Yearcourse Prom: Oscar Night!

The scouts on our program planned an incredible night for us where different people were awarded different titles such as "cutest couple", "biggest JAP, "never seen sober" etc. It was such a fun night to get dressed up and have a date and enjoy myself with my section. I received the title "Most likely to be seen with a scout" because I love them a little too much! This was a really nice and perfect for our last week of yearcourse!

How cute is my date? :)

Visiting my Volunteering and MASA Closing Ceremony!

In Arad, I made really great connections through my volunteering. I loved the kids, the other volunteers, and of course the teacher that I worked with. Unfortunately, other than my trip with my dad, I hadn't gone back to see my kids.  So I decided to take a free day and go visit them. It was a total surprise and seeing their faces when they saw me walk through the door made the annoying trek to Arad worth it! I got to see my first two classes (8th grade and 9th grade). I had to miss my favorite class (7th grade) due to a mandatory ceremony in Jerusalem for the end of Israel programs. I am so happy to have gone and see these amazing kids. They gave me so much love and it really showed me that I made a difference. The teacher always tells me that they still talk about me and when I came, I saw that he was not exaggerating. Also, seeing ninth grade boys show some emotion is pretty rare.... I'll miss them!

As I said earlier, after visiting the school, I went to Jerusalem to attend the closing ceremonies by MASA which basically  funds every Israel program from all over the world so there were a lot of people there. We heard the Minister of the Economy, Naftali Bennet speak and the chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky. BUT the best part was seeing the Israeli acapella group Voca People perform! They are a group of eight people who dress head to toe in white with red lipstick and act like aliens. They had amazing mash-ups from movies, songs you name it. It was so fun to see them perform and I had never heard of them before this. Thanks for everything MASA! :)

Trip to the Kineret with Section 3!

The scouts on our program organized an amazing trip to the Sea of Galilee (The Kineret) for the night! After a six hour bus ride, we finally arrived to our campsite at 11 pm and immediately started setting up for dinner. We played the usual games that we all know from our youth movements and jew camp such as laptag. So much fun! We had dinner at 1:30 in the morning and stayed up pretty late hanging out. The whole thing kind of reminded me of the overnights that we have at camp which is kind of weird... A few of us decided to sleep right on the beach and we had HORRIBLE neighbors. A few guys came at 3 in the morning and never went to sleep. We fell asleep to their noise and woke up to it at six in the morning.... Yay

After we left the Kineret, we went to do an amazing hike completely in water! I came prepared with my waterproof shoes that were given to me for free and they completely broke! No we know why they were free... It was so fun and so refreshing to swim afterwards!

After that, we went rafting in the Jordan River! I have been there before with my family, but this time was better (sorry family). Just imagine 50 eighteen year olds messing around pushing each other in and swimming around! It was the best time and such a good bonding experience. The whole trip brought us closer together with each other and the scouts. I am so grateful to the scouts for planning this, they did one hell of a job!
Two weeks left......